Gas generator for oil operated orchard heaters



Oct. 15,1940. J. F. TAPIE;

GENERATOR FOR OIL OPERATED ORCHARD HEATERS GAS Filed July 6, 1957 M w 2 /wa m.. www l @3.4. 4 5 6HL/P 7 3 2 d3 0V sa K. n n 7 2-d\ .5 1 s 7 0 ,fn/ m5 53 042% w ,2 4.1/5.1.

6 f L z w A; o I 2, 2 y W 2/ 5/ M /r 2 l w m 9 n.1 R s 8/ A ov e w 1.. 8/ m L .0 W n Patented Qci. 15, `19.40

PATENT orifice GAS GENERAToR FoR on. OPERATED ORCHARD HEATERs Joseph Fred Tapie, Santa. Barbara, Calif., assignor of one-half to William Angeles, Calif.

H. Heyser, Los

Application Jury 6, 1937, serial No. 152,112k

1 Claim.

My invention pertains to a gas 'generator for generating gas from fuel oil with anapplication for burning the gas in an orchard heater. My ini vention therefore may be considered as an improvement in the oil fuel orchard heaters of the type in which the oil is cracked and vaporized to form a gas prior to ignition. My invention also relates to the type oforchard heater in which usually the oil is piped from a lcentral supply depot through various mains and the laterals to each oil burner and the flow is controlled as to each heater to 'secure the desired flame.

My invention as to the features of the gas generator and burner has as -characteristics of improvement the employment of a closed cracking retort for the oil with a spreader disk positioned intermediate the top and bottom and supported on 4the bottom of such retort with such disk having a central opening through which projects an oil supply tube with -a distributing head for distributing oil to the' upper side of the distribution disk.

Thus on account of the oil tube having a free passage through the opening of the disk there isv lthe upper end of the cup burner supports the retort hence the oil tube extends upwardly through the cup-shaped burner and thro-ugh the gas pipe and hence the upwardly flowing oil becomes preheated'by the hot gas. A further feature of my invention is in having the gas jets of the cup-type of burner positioned in the upper side thereof and closely encircling the vertical gas pipe, thus when the gas is ignited transmitting heat to the gas pipe and tothe underside of the retort. Therefore as the oilidistributiondisk is directly supported from the underside of such retort, the heat is conveyed to this disk byconduction through the metal of the retort as well as by radiation from the lower side of the retort thereby bringing the oil distribution disk to such a temperature that the oil is readily gasiiied. The flame of course on account of having the retort circular spreads and follows the-contour of the retort, thus bringing the complete walls thereof to a high temperature.

Myinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: A

Fig. l is a vertical section showing an orchard heater with my gas generator installed therein.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig; l in the direction of the arrows, portions of theor'chard heater construction being omitted.

(o1. s- 53).y Y I Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 ofA Fig. 2 in the direction ofthe arrows showing the spray head for spreading the oil on the spreader disk, such disk being shown only in part. 4..

Fig. 4A is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 5 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows, the spreader disk being broken to show a gas'passage.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5- 5 of Fig. 2 in thedirection of the arrows illustrating the gasburner orifices omitting the ignition pan. 1'6

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on theline 6 6 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows showing part of the lower framing of the orchard heater and the support for the gas generator.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through Aa modiiication of the gas generator showing the oil feed pipe in the form of a coil.

Referring first to the gas generator construction,

i which is designated by the assembly numeral Il, this employs a cup-like burner I2 having side walls 26 I3, a base I4, a downwardly extending lug I5, the upper part of the sidewalls being curved inwardly at I6 and have-an annular rburner head I'I. This y is provided with a plurality of verticalv gas jet orifices I8 and entering each orifice there is a "'25 small bore air duct lleading inwardly andupwardly on an inclination. The burner has a threaded opening "at the top and the bottom and the lugoI5 also have a threaded opening 2I. A ,gas pipe which may also be considered as a stand or supporting pillar is threaded into the opening 20 of the burnerand forms a support'for the oil cracking retort designated by the assembly numeral 30. This is in the form of a shallow drum having a cylindrical periphery 3|, a lower g5 head 32 with a heavy annularv boss 33 provided with an opening 34 of which the lower part 35 is threaded and having a threaded connection to the upper endvof the tube 25. The drum also has an f ,n upper head 36 with a central boss 31, this being o provided with a threaded opening` 38 having a closure plug 39 fitted therein. The oil distributing disk 40 is supported above the lower head by a plurality of spacing support members 4 I leaving j between these, gas passages 42. rThe disk is pro- This head has an annular outside wall 48, a closed `ignition oil is poured into the .pan l2. vgenerally a mixture of fuel oil with gasoline.

top 49 and the bottom 50 preferably projects beyond the top of the tube 46. This head may be screw threaded into the tube or welded thereon and is provided with a plurality of oil jet orices 59 to distribute oil on the upper surface of the spreading disk 49.

A convenient way to mount or support the gas generator is by a supporting frame 65. This is illustrated as having intersecting metal straps 66 and 61, each with an opening therethrough through which extends the lower part of the tube 46 and an elbow 68 is threaded on the lower end of the tube and jams against the lowermost cross strap. A feed pipe 69 extends laterally'from the elbow and has a control valve 1B and from this valve there is a lateral pipe '|I extending to a supply main or the like. In order to initially start the operation of the gas generator, an ignition pan '|2 is utilized. This is made in the form of a disk preferably having a fiat lower central portion V'I3 with a perforation through the center through which projects the lower portion of the oil pipe 46. Thus this pan is positioned on top of the frame 65 and the boss |5 rests on this central portion of the pan. The pan has an upwardly ared portion- 'I4 and is adapted to receive and retain a shallow spread of ignition oil, this being usually a. mixture of fuel oil and gasoline.

In the assembly of the burner with an orchard heater, I provide a simple and inexpensive type of heater, the heater body designated by the numeral 80 including a cylindrical outside wall 8| open at the bottom 82 and the top83. The cross straps 66 and 6l have downwardly extending legs 8l! with feet 85 and are riveted as indicated at 86 tothe lower portion of the cylinder. The straps thus extending slightly above the lower edge of the cylinder and for purposes of convenience the feed pipe 69 may extend through one Vof the legs and through an opening in the lower portion of the cylinder. There is thus provided a large space 8l below the lower edge of the cylinder for inflow of air to support the combustion of the gas. The gas generator it will be noted is centrally supported and positioned as regards the axis of the cylinder forming the wall of the orchard heater. At the top of the heater there are upwardly extending supporting bars 88, these being riveted or otherwise secured as indicated at 89 to the cylinder 8| and have inwardly turned ends 9|? forming a support for a top cover or deiiector disk 9|. Thisit will be noted is slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of the cylinder 8|. For convenience a handle 92 is attached by rivets 93 or the like to the cover and thus forms a convenient means for lifting the entire orchard heater assembly.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, instead of having a straight oil pipe such as 46, this pipe has a coiled section indicated by the numeral IIIII, the lower end being secured in the lower part of the burner and the upper end extending through the disk 49 and having the oil jet device at the top. This coil exposes a greaterrarea of the oil pipe to the heat developed facilitating the heating of the oil and also on account ofva slight expansion and contraction factor.

The manner of operating and functioning of the orchard heater gas generator and burner is substantially as follows :i When the generator is installed in an orchard heater as shown, the This is This is 'then ignited and burns quite readily and either before or during the burning, oil is supoil pipe 46 into the cup burner I2. then discharged through the gas jet orifices I8 plied under a slight pressure so that it flows upwardly through the oil pipe 46 and in flowing out of the distributor head 41, such oil is sprayed on the oil distributing disk 40. The oil burning in the pan heats the cracking retort and the heat is transmitted to the disk 4I) causing a cracking of the oil forming a gas or vapor.` This develops a vgas pressure inside of the retort and the gas flows down through the gas passage |32 in the annular space between the gas pipe 25 and the The gas is and is ignited by the llame from the oil in the thepan l2. The small bore air ducts I9 which owing upwardly through the large lower opening 8'! and circulating around the periphery of the pan I2. The small bore air ducts I9 which lead to the gas orices admit only a small amount of air but this is sufficient to. burn any carbon or similar matter which may tend to accumulate in the gas orifices or on the top of the gas burner.

It will be noted that the flame from the jets I8 is directed upwardly surrounding the tubular gas pipe or pillar 25 and impinges on the bottom head 32 of the retort 30, the flames passing upwardly around the periphery of the retort and curling inwardly over the'top, thus heating the upper head 36. The whole of the still therefore becomes very hot and this heat is submitted by conduction to the disk 46, hence practically all of the oil sprayed on this disk is cracked and completely volatilized. It will be noted that there is a slight clearance between the oil tube and the opening in the disk through which this passes upwardly, thereby taking care of dilerential expansion or contraction. The whole of the chamber inside of the retort also becomes highly heated and the gas generated is forced to pass underneath the disk 40 to the gas passa-ges 42.

This super-heats the gas and the heating is continued as the gas passes downwardly through the gas pipe 25 so that such gas is in a highly heated condition when in the gas burner I2. Hence the hot gas with the air of combustion develops a very hot flame producing substantially complete combustion without smoke. It will be manifest that the amount of oil supplied the gas generator may be regulated by the valve 'l0 or in other suitable manner. A certain amount of the flame is deected by the retort outwardly through the annular space between the top of the cylinder 8| andthe lid or cover 9|. The flame which curls around the top of the retort contacts the cover and is also manifestly directed outwardly. Thus there is a blast of flame forming a circle around the orchard heater and directed substantially horizontally. In view of the fact that the gas generator and the complete orchard heater may be made quite low, this flame is close to the ground so that the hot products of Ycombustion and the heated air are blown underneath the foliage of the usual orchard trees. The heat radiated from the flame and also directly from the wall of the orchard heater is operative to heat the trunk and branches of the tree and with this type of horizontal discharge of the flame, the burner does not develop excessive vertical conversion currents of air.

The purpose of the opening 38 and plug 39 is partly to faciiltate casting of the retort in removal of the cores and also by removal of the plug a special tool may grip the distributor head fil and be used to unthread the oil tube from the burner I2 when it is desired to clean out this vdistributor head or any part .of the burner or to clean the insideof the retort. It will thus be seen that the gas generator as a whole is quite simple in its construction and assembly and also may be readily dis-assembled for cleaning should such be desired.

Various changes may be made in the details of the construction without departing froml the spirit or scope of the invention as dened by the appended claims.

I claim:

In a gas generator, a cup type of gas burner having a gas pipe connected at its upper end and extending upwardly, a plurality of gas jet orifices on the upper side of the burner encircling the gas pipe, an oil tube extending upwardly through the gas burner and through the gas pipe, a drum shaped retort secured to the upper end of the gas pipe, an oil distribution disk supported from the lower side of the retort and positioned between its lower and upper sides, there being gas passages from the underside oi the distribution disk leading to the gas pipe, -such disk having a central opening, the oil ltube extending upwardly through such opening with a clearance to provide for expansion and contraction, an oil distribution head at the upper end of the oil tube located above the distribution disk with openings to spray oil on such disk whereby such oil becomes gasified on the disk and in the retort, the

gas owing downwardly in the gas pipe and producing a substantially uniform mixture in the cup burner, the flames from the gas jet impinging on the gas pipe and the underside of the retort thereby heating the retort and the oil distribution disk, such `disk having heat transmitted by conduction from the lower side oi the retort and by radiation from such lower side.

JOSEPH FRED TAPIE. 

